Peking University

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Lore & Background

Following China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, intellectuals including Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and Yan Fu called for reforms to the country's education system. On 11 June 1898, the Guangxu Emperor, as part of the Hundred Days' Reform, authorised the creation of the Imperial University of Peking. It was formally established on 3 July 1898 when the emperor approved the royal charter written by Liang. Minister Sun Jianai was charged with the implementation. William Alexander Parsons Martin was appointed as the first president. The university opened on 31 December with 160 students, instead of the planned 500. After the Xinhai Revolution, it was renamed 'Government University of Peking' in 1912 and then 'National University of Peking' in 1919. The noted scholar Cai Yuanpei was appointed president on 26 December 1917, transforming it into the country's largest institution of higher learning, with 14 departments and an enrollment of more than 2,000 students. On 1 May 1919, several PKU students learned the Treaty of Versailles would allow Japan to receive Germany's colonising rights in Shandong province, leading to the May Fourth Movement protests on 4 May.

Reader's Guide

During the Second World War, Peking University staff joined Tsinghua University and Nankai University staff in establishing the National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming, Yunnan. After the People's Republic of China was established, the university merged with Yenching University during a nationwide restructuring in 1952. During the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign of 1973 to 1976, critique groups formed at Peking University and Tsinghua University disseminated commentaries under the pseudonym 'Liang Xiao'. In April 2000, Beijing Medical University was merged into Peking University. In October 2015, PKU alumnus and Professor Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin. On 20 February 2017, the university signed a contract with the Open University to establish the Oxford Campus of Peking University HSBC Business School, Peking University Oxford Center and Shenzhen Oxford Innovation Center. In March 2025, PKU split its former Faculty of Information and Engineering into two new faculties—Faculty of Informatics and Faculty of Engineering, with the latter having added two newly established schools—School of Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics and School of Mechanics and Engineering Science.

Did You Know?

• Peking University is the second-oldest university in China, after Tianjin University (established in 1895).
• The university opened on 31 December 1898 with 160 students, instead of the planned 500.
• William Alexander Parsons Martin was appointed as the first president of the Imperial University of Peking.
• During the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign, critique groups from PKU and Tsinghua used the pseudonym 'Liang Xiao', a homophone for 'two schools'.
• In March 2025, PKU split its Faculty of Information and Engineering into two new faculties: Informatics and Engineering.

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